In this incredible Young Adult novel, we follow our protagonist, Enrique or Quique, as he navigates his teenage life as a bisexual latine. He’s hopelessly in love with one of his best friends, Saleem, but is 99.9% positive that the feeling is not mutual and that Saleem is straight. Thankfully his best friend (Fabiola) is determined to give Quique a hot girl summer and encourages him to explore different prospects. Quique has a wide range of people to pursue. Through each new interaction, Quique learns about himself and his resilience to overcome the challenges of being bisexual.
I loved this book for so many reasons. The cast of characters are so loveable and were each uniquely flushed out. Their personalities really added to the plot and fed different perspectives to the reader. It was heartwarming to see young adults come together to learn from extremely difficult challenges.
In addition, I thought that the plot was extremely well thought out. Aceves does an amazing job portraying the difficulty of exploring one’s sexuality and the different perspectives people can have. Enrique is put into very challenging scenarios that make him feel ashamed about his sexuality and even objectified. As a reader, it was extremely painful to see Enrique be treated so badly but it was heartwarming to see his growth and realization of the relationship he deserves.
“It was heartwarming to see young adults come together to learn from extremely difficult challenges.”
Contemporary young adult books are some of my favorites to read because it’s so exciting and refreshing to see the increasing diversity in characters and experiences that authors are capturing in the present day. As a half Mexican and half Korean teen, I remember feeling distant from books. However, looking back, I realize it’s because there was nothing connecting me to the characters. I could enjoy reading books but there was always the barrier of not seeing myself in the characters and being able to relate to them. That’s why I’m so happy that there is another book that depicts the strength of a YA latine bisexual character. Bisexuality is not typically represented in LGBTQIA+ books and there is even less representation of the intersectionality of being a bisexual latine teenage male. As painful as some of these scenes were to read, it’s so important to be aware of these uncomfortable possibilities to learn how to stand up for yourself, give yourself grace, or be a better ally, friend, sibling, parent, neighbor, etc.
This will be a great resource for current and future young adult generations but also current older generations that didn’t have this type of book available during their young adult chapter. I hope that Aaron Aceves writes more novels to continue to add representation and help many communities.
Aaron H. Aceves is a bisexual, Mexican American writer born and raised in East Los Angeles. He graduated from Harvard College and received his MFA from Columbia University. His fiction has appeared in jmww, Epiphany, and them., among other places. He currently lives in Texas, where he serves as an Early Career Provost Fellow at UT Austin. He can be found at AaronHAceves.com or @AaronAceves on Instagram or @AaronHAceves on Twitter and TikTok.
Mariana Felix-Kim (she/her) lives in Washington, D.C. with her lovely cat, Leo. When she is not working in the environmental science field, Mariana is constantly reading. Her favorite genres include non-fiction, thrillers, and contemporary romances. Mariana is half Mexican and half Korean. You can find her on Instagram: @mariana.reads.books
